Jared Futrell v. Commonwealth of Kentucky, Appellee and Kayla Lord v. Commonwealth of Kentucky

Summary

The Kentucky Supreme Court reversed both murder convictions because the trial court abused its discretion by failing to remove two prospective jurors for cause, depriving the defendants of the full use of their peremptory challenges and causing presumptively prejudicial error. The court held that the evidence supported a directed verdict denial and supported retrial of Lord on principal and legal-duty complicity theories, but did not support retrial of Futrell on an aiding-and-abetting complicity theory. The court also upheld the admission of the child-abuse pediatrician's expert testimony, while directing that certain jury instructions be corrected on retrial. Cunningham, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part, agreed with reversal but would have permitted Futrell to be retried for complicity.